Method and device for the display of information

ABSTRACT

In a method for the display of optical information in an application with a display in a motor vehicle, the information is available in a given format. The information format is changed by a data processing process based on control information. The information is displayed in a changed format on the application page.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method for displaying information, inparticular optical information, on a display in a motor vehicle and to adevice for implementing the method.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

In today's motor vehicles, there are a multiplicity of components whichtransmit information to the driver and which generate acoustical andoptical signals, potentially distracting the driver and divertinghis/her concentration from the road traffic. Besides the classic carradio where the driver can listen to traffic news, these include, forexample, navigational systems having optical and acoustical routeguidance, mobile telephones provided with hands-free kits, i.e., carphones, and multifunctional display units having changing graphicalinterfaces. For that reason, to display city maps, road maps, routes,and other optical information, a motor vehicle is provided with a colordisplay of an appropriate size for displaying television and videoimages.

The Internet and intranet have become important instruments for quicklyacquiring information and for using services. However, difficultiesarise when displaying information from the net, i.e., from web sites, inmotor vehicles, due to ergonomic reasons, since, for example, brightlyilluminated video displays can produce glare for the driver duringnighttime driving. However, Internet web sites are always displayed withthe coloration predefined by the web site provider. This can result inthe legibility and display of web sites not being compatible with someapplications. This is because, at the present time, the colors of websites are not adaptable, without running the risk that adapting anotherweb site using the same method results in this web site no longer beingreadable, for example, because the text and background color aresuddenly identical or similar, so that no contrast at all or only a verypoor contrast is achieved.

For that reason, it is an object of the present invention to displayinformation from the Internet or intranet on a motor vehicle displaythat may enable the driver to take in the information with the greatestpossible certainty.

SUMMARY

This objective may be achieved by providing a method and by providing adevice as set forth herein. Example embodiments of the present inventionare described herein.

In the method according to an example embodiment of the presentinvention for displaying optical information in an application on adisplay in a motor vehicle, the information existing in a predefineddesign, the design or layout form of the information is modified by adata-processing process in dependence upon control information and isdisplayed in a modified design on the application side.

The information may include a web site which is transmitted via acommunications connection by the data-processing process on a web serverfor application purposes, to the motor vehicle. To modify or adapt theweb site or the optical information, the control information istransmitted by the application to the data-processing process. Thecontrol information includes, in particular, information on the presentsituation or state of the motor vehicle. In this context, the concept ofa motor-vehicle situation is described by a number of parameters, suchas motor vehicle velocity, cornering speed, curve curvature, roadcondition, traffic density, driving situation, acceleration ordeceleration, position, angle of inclination, ambient brightness,ambient temperature, and weather, etc.

The web site design modified by the data-processing process may bealtered in terms of its content, layout, font size, coloration, and/orsingle or multiple image sections, etc.

The coloration may be changed, and this may be done with respect to oneor more of the parameters color, color shade, color saturation, andbrightness.

In addition, the background color and/or background design of theinformation or web site and/or the font color or font colors may bechanged.

To transmit the control information, cookies, as well as meta tags inthe http request may be used, or an appropriate parameter list isappended to the URL. It is also possible that the change in the color ofa web site is derived from a meta tag instruction located in the website's source code.

The control information may be generated, for example, from a manualinput event and/or from the values of one or a plurality of transducersor sensors.

A device for implementing the method according to an example embodimentof the present invention has a display, a control unit, a communicationsdevice for connecting, for example, to the Internet, and sensors and/ortransducers for determining the motor-vehicle situation.

One example embodiment of the present invention is described in thefollowing on the basis of a drawing which schematically represents adevice for implementing the method according to the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The FIGURE is a schematic view of an example embodiment of a device forimplementing an example embodiment of a method according to the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The FIGURE illustrates a control 1 having a display 2 connected thereto.Control 1 is linked to an Internet module 3 on which an application isexecuted, Internet module 3 being inscribed or entered in a mobilecommunications network via a mobile station 4 having an appropriateantenna and communicating with a data-processing process on a web server5. In addition, control 1 is linked to various sensors and transducers,which are designated here, as a group, by reference numeral 6.

The method according to an example embodiment of the present inventionmay enable, in particular, the web sites to be adaptable for anapplication where the external appearance with respect to brightness andcoloration is important, so that, for the most part, color adaptationwill be discussed in the following. Other design elements, such as fontsize, layout, etc., of the web site are modifiable using the method,with the application of appropriate parameters of the motor-vehiclesituation.

When web sites are called up, a communications connection exists betweena data-processing process (in short DPP) on the web server and theapplication. This communications path may be used by the application toinform the DPP on the basis of control information that a differentcoloration is desired for a web site. On the basis of this controlinformation, the DPP may generate a different coloration of the web sitethat is appropriate for the situation and may make this available to theapplication. The prerequisite for this is that such a method besupported by the DPP. The communications method may be implemented, forexample, a) with parameters which are appended to the web address (URL),b) with so-called cookies, c) with meta tags on the web site, or d) witha meta tag extension in the http request.

In case a), the DPP on the web server may derive the control informationfrom the parameters appended to the URL and generate and transmit theweb site directly, when called up, in the coloration required by theapplication.

In case b), when the web site is first called up, the DPP on the webserver transmits to the application. During an existing communicationsconnection with the application, the DPP is able, with the aid of thecookie, to query the necessary control information from the applicationand, as a result, may generate and transmit web sites with theappropriate coloration.

In case c), there is an additional meta tag in the source code of theweb site. On the basis of this meta tag, the application maysimultaneously recognize if the web site supports a mechanism for coloradaptation, as described here. Supplementing this information, a webaddress is then specified in the meta tag, which leads to an alternativeweb site having a different coloration and which is automatically calledup, for example. In this manner, using the control information, which isgenerated in an application depending on the circumstances in theapplication environment, a web site that is already in the displaydevice may be updated in the color display.

Case d) may be similar to case a), it being possible in this case forthe DPP on the web server to derive the control information from themeta tags of the http request.

The methods delineated here are compatible with the web technologiesemployed today and may be used without conflicts arising with browsersor web sites which do not support these methods.

The simplest application case may be a request by the application for abright or dark web site. In a further example embodiment of this method,the control information may contain values for ambient brightness. Thesemay be used by the DPP on the web server to perfectly adjust thebrightness or coloration of the web site to the circumstances of theapplication. In this context, the ambient brightness may be measured bya light sensor situated in the periphery of the application.

A color adaptation of this kind may also be implemented via a separateweb service which is provided in the Internet or which is executed as aweb service directly in the application. The objective of such a webservice is to offer and run through this color adaptation as a centralDPP. An advantage may be that not every web site existing in theInternet need consider this functionality, but, nevertheless, with theaid of this central web service, a color adaptation of each web site maybe possible.

Color-adapted web sites of this kind on the web server may be producedusing dynamic web-site generation in a DPP on a web server. This means aweb server may not need to hold an appropriate web site in readiness forevery possible color combination, but rather may generate the siteuniversally for the particular web site query. For this, a calculationprogram for determining colors may be used, or, in the simplest case,the DPP may support two fixed color variants, for example, for day andnight displays.

In a motor vehicle, during the day, in particular due to exposure tosunlight, a very bright, high-contrast coloration may be desired and, atnight, an extremely low brightness with dark colors and surfaces may berequired. By using the described method, it may be possible to solvethese problems when displaying web sites in the vehicle. The vehiclemay, for example, transmit the light switch position or the measuredvalue of a light sensor in the vehicle to the DPP and thereby supply therequired control information for day or night operation, whereupon theDPP generates the web site in the appropriate color representation. Inaddition, the DPP may adapt the coloration depending on the clock time,optionally in consideration of the vehicle's position as well. On thebasis of this information and the seasonal light conditions, anautomatic adaptation of the color display may be possible. Since theInternet having mobile data access in the vehicle has established itsimportance for route planning, traffic messages, and off-boardnavigation, a color adaptation of a web site may represent a practicalexpansion of functionality for the driver of a motor vehicle.

Reference Symbol List 1 control 2 display 3 Internet module 4 mobilestation 5 web server 6 sensors and transducers

1. A method for displaying optical information in an application inwhich a display is arranged in a motor vehicle, comprising: modifying apredefined arrangement of the information by a data-processing processin accordance with control information; and displaying the arrangementof the information in a modified arrangement on an application side. 2.The method according to claim 1, wherein the information includes a website transmitted via a communications connection by the data-processingprocess on a web server to an application.
 3. The method according toclaim 1, further comprising transmitting the control information to thedata-processing process by an application.
 4. The method according toclaim 1, wherein the control information includes information relatingto a situation of the motor vehicle.
 5. The method according to claim 4,wherein the situation of the motor vehicle includes at least one of amotor vehicle velocity, a cornering speed, a curve curvature, a roadcondition, a traffic density, a driving situation, an acceleration, adeceleration, a position, an angle of inclination, an ambientbrightness, an ambient temperature, and weather.
 6. The method accordingto claim 1, wherein the arrangement is modified in the modifying stepwith respect to at least one of content, layout, font size, coloration,single image sections and multiple image sections.
 7. The methodaccording to claim 6, wherein the modifying step includes changingcoloration with respect to at least one color parameter.
 8. The methodaccording to claim 7, wherein the at least one color parameter includesat least one of color, color shade, color saturation and brightness. 9.The method according to claim 6, wherein the modifying step includeschanging at least one of a background color and a background design ofthe information.
 10. The method according to claim 7, wherein themodifying step includes changing at least one of at least one fontcolor.
 11. The method according to claim 3, wherein the controlinformation is transmitted in the transmitting step in accordance with acookie.
 12. A method for displaying optical information in anapplication in which a display is arranged in a motor vehicle, theinformation existing in a predefined arrangement, comprising: modifyingthe arrangement of the information by a data-processing process inaccordance with control information; displaying the arrangement of theinformation in a modified arrangement on an application side; andtransmitting the control information to the data-processing process byan application; wherein the control information is transmitted in thetransmitting step in accordance with a meta tag in an http request. 13.The method according to claim 3, wherein the control informationtransmitting step includes appending a parameter list to a URL.
 14. Amethod for displaying optical information in an application in which adisplay is arranged in a motor vehicle, the information existing in apredefined arrangement, comprising: modifying the arrangement of theinformation by a data-processing process in accordance with controlinformation: displaying the arrangement of the information in a modifiedarrangement on an application side, wherein the arrangement is modifiedin the modifying step with respect to at least one of content, layout,font size, coloration, single image sections and multiple imagesections; and deriving a change of color of a web site from a meta taginstruction located in a source code of the web site.
 15. The methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising generating the controlinformation from at least one of a manual input event and from values ofat least one transducer.
 16. A device, comprising: a display arranged ina motor vehicle; a control unit; a communications device; at least oneof at least one sensor and at least one transducer configured todetermine a motor vehicle situation; and an arrangement configured toperform a method for displaying optical information in an application,the method including: modifying a predefined arrangement of theinformation by a data-processing process in accordance with controlinformation; and displaying the arrangement of the information in amodified arrangement on an application side.
 17. The device according toclaim 16, wherein the information includes a web site transmitted via acommunications connection by the data-processing process on a web serverto an application.
 18. The device according to claim 16, wherein themethod further includes transmitting the control information to thedata-processing process by an application.
 19. The device according toclaim 16, wherein the control information includes information relatingto a situation of the motor vehicle.
 20. The device according to claim19, wherein the situation of the motor vehicle includes at least one ofa motor vehicle velocity, a cornering speed, a curve curvature, a roadcondition, a traffic density, a driving situation, an acceleration, adeceleration, a position, an angle of inclination, an ambientbrightness, an ambient temperature, and weather.
 21. The deviceaccording to claim 16, wherein the arrangement is modified in themodifying step with respect to at least one of content, layout, fontsize, coloration, single image sections and multiple image sections. 22.The device according to claim 21, wherein the modifying step includeschanging coloration with respect to at least one color parameter. 23.The device according to claim 22, wherein the at least one colorparameter includes at least one of color, color shade, color saturationand brightness.
 24. The device according to claim 21, wherein themodifying step includes changing at least one of a background color anda background design of the information.
 25. The device according toclaim 22, wherein the modifying step includes changing at least one ofat least one font color.
 26. The device according to claim 18, whereinthe control information is transmitted in the transmitting step inaccordance with a cookie.
 27. A device, comprising: a display arrangedin a motor vehicle; a control unit; a communications device; at leastone of at least one sensor and at least one transducer configured todetermine a motor vehicle situation; and an arrangement configured toperform a method for displaying optical information in an application,the information existing in a predefined arrangement, the methodincluding: modifying the arrangement of the information by adata-processing process in accordance with control information; anddisplaying the arrangement of the information in a modified arrangementon an application side, wherein the method further includes transmittingthe control information to the data-processing process by anapplication; wherein the control information is transmitted in thetransmitting step in accordance with a meta tag in an http request. 28.The device according to claim 18, wherein the control informationtransmitting step includes appending a parameter list to a URL.
 29. Adevice, comprising: a display arranged in a motor vehicle; a controlunit; a communications device; at least one of at least one sensor andat least one transducer configured to determine a motor vehiclesituation; an arrangement configured to perform a method for displayingoptical information in an application, the information existing in apredefined arrangement, the method including: modifying the arrangementof the information by a data-processing process in accordance withcontrol information; and displaying the arrangement of the informationin a modified arrangement on an application side, wherein thearrangement is modified in the modifying step with respect to at leastone of content, layout, font size, coloration, single image sections andmultiple image sections; wherein the method further includes deriving achange of color of a web site from a meta tag instruction located in asource code of the web site.
 30. The device according to claim 16,wherein the method further includes generating the control informationfrom at least one of a manual input event and from values of at leastone transducer.